A Feudal Fairy Tale
by someoneintheshadow456
Summary: To Kagome, an adventure in Feudal Japan seemed like her favourite manga and video games brought to life, but she soon discovers that going on quests and being a hero are far from fun and games. A Deconstruction fic of Inu Yasha.
1. The Last Letter

_Nagisa, _

_I know what you're going to say, that letters are old hat, that I was born in the wrong century and I should send you emails just like everyone else does, but I do not have access to technology where I am. I have little time, I've been trying to return home, but it seems difficult to find a way to do so. The place where I am is dangerous, and I might not live long. _

_I expect you to laugh me off and to call me the history loving lunatic that I am for what I'm about to tell you, that's why I gave you all the evidence with this letter, guard it with your life, and show it to Father as well, he will understand more than you. For you see, I found out a terrible secret about Kagome. _

_I suspected something was wrong with her since she was born. When I held her for the first time, I saw a glowing purple silhouette in her stomach. When I asked the doctors to have her examined, they claimed they could find nothing. At the time, I brushed it off. _

_And when she was three, do you remember? She should have died from falling from such a height, but she healed in two days. Remember when she broke her arm, only for her to make a miraculous recovery an hour later? You always claimed she was a strong baby, but I thought it was more than that. _

_Remember how you used to jokingly say that Kagome should be a weatherwoman, because her weather predictions would always be accurate? Remember how she said at breakfast, "I dreamt that Mommy would get a promotion today," and you became a manager that same evening? And when she said, "I dreamt I got a baby brother," and you turned out to be pregnant with Souta? _

_I was just rummaging through the findings I had gathered, and I found some scrolls, stories to be more precise. Stories of a band of heroes working together to defeat an evil demon, one of them… quite curiously, was named Kagome. I thought it to be coincidence, until I read through some medieval mythology. There was a story of a priestess charged with bearing a jewel of unfathomable power, and that when she died; she carried it over to her next life, a jewel that bore an uncanny resemblance to the silhouette I saw in Kagome's stomach. There was also mention of rifts in the space-time continuum existing all over the world, and that they could be accessed by people with certain… supernatural connections. You mentioned your grandfather's brother went missing when he came to my family shrine, and that there were reports of people vanishing when they came in contact with certain spots. _

_I put the pieces together and circled the aforementioned passages attached. It is clear that if we do not act soon, Kagome will be in for a horrible fate. And I know that you don't want our daughter to go missing and never return… or worse, to return from a war-ravaged world with terrifying monsters, never to be the same again. _

_Do not let her near the Higurashi shrine at all costs; in fact, keep her within the confines of the house whenever possible. Give her what she wants, do whatever it takes, just make sure she does not leave. Nobody knows where these rifts in time are, they could be anywhere, and I want to take no chances. You of all people know of Kagome's natural curiosity, do not attempt to feed it. Evade her questions, deceive her if you can. Tell her that whatever we do, we do for her own good and because we want a happy child. She will be angry, frustrated, even. In adolescence, she may even try to disobey us, but keep her in check for her safety. _

_You want to know where I am, but I think after reading this letter, you will understand. On all probability, I will be dead by the time you reach this. Give my love to Dad, and tell him that his years of research were not for naught. And give my love to Kagome and Souta, and ask them to forgive their father. _

_Know that I do, and always have, loved you deeply. I cherish whatever time we spent together. Forgive me for making you a widow. _

_With love,_

_Sosuke Higurashi. _


	2. Fact and Fiction

_People are running and screaming, houses are on fire, and possessions are strewn about the streets. It's a village, but it doesn't look like any village I've seen in real life, in fact, it looks like it came straight out of Fire Emblem or Bushido Quest. _

_The attacker comes into view; I can't tell if it's male or female. The long flowing hair suggests it's a girl, but the chunky, muscular figure and visible lack of breasts suggests it's a boy. Though I know one thing for sure, the attacker isn't human; it's plain to see from his dog-like ears. _

_The attacker barges into a house, now they've got their eyes on a necklace with a purple jewel in the centre, their eyes are gleaming. The attacker grabs the jewel and runs off with a smug smile, and dodges the weapons coming at them with inhuman speed. _

"_I should have known… all that crap about becoming human… ha! I would have been better off doing this earlier…" _

_It's definitely a male, I can tell from his rough voice. That jewel must be valuable for him to risk his life to steal it. _

_The scene shifts and now I see an elegant looking woman in a red and white priestess outfit, she's clutching her right shoulder, which is bloody, and she's crying. Then her expression hardens, and she lifts her bow and arrow, aims it at the attacker, and stabs him in the heart. _

_I think she missed though, because the attacker is now pinned to a tree, and the jewel he stole is now on the ground. From the clearing, a girl about Souta's age runs to the woman called Kikyo. Her wounds have gotten worse, and now she's kneeling on the floor, there is blood on her face too. _

"_Sister! Don't worry, I'll call a doctor, you'll be all right, you'll…" _

_She sounds like she's reassuring herself rather than her sister, she's crying, she realizes that there isn't much hope for her now. Kikyo places her hand on her sister's cheek, and then gestures to the jewel on the floor. _

"_Kaede… you know what you must do…"_

_And she dies, and then there is a blinding purple light…_

I woke up to the sound of screaming set to drums. I cursed under my breath; Souta probably changed my alarm tone to heavy metal again. The guy always managed to figure out my passcode even though I changed it frequently. I told myself I'd deal with him during breakfast.

I groggily got up from bed, then walked to the bathroom and proceeded to get ready, then changed into my green and white sailor uniform, ready to start another day of school. Then I went back to my room, and picked up my phone from the bedside table and my schoolbag from my desk. I ran downstairs, and saw Mom in work clothes and Grandpa picking at his rice and pickled plums.

"Gramps, did your mom ever tell you not to play with your food?" I sighed as I took my seat at the table.

"You'd play with your food too if you were stuck with the same damn meal every morning!"

I sighed in frustration; Gramps was getting old and more temperamental. He wasn't always this snappy, but ever since… well… since Dad passed away, he became a perpetual black cloud.

"Mom, where's Souta?"

Mom looked around, and then buried her face in her hands and made a sound of frustration.

"Ugh! It's seven fifteen and he still hasn't gotten ready?"

I expected the usual, Mom storming upstairs and yelling at Souta for not having a concept of time, and him grumbling as he went downstairs, and yes, that was what I got. Souta's collar shirt was wrinkled and his tie lopsided, it was kind of funny how he was already eleven and still didn't know how to tie a tie on his own.

"Souta, how many times have I told you not to mess with my phone?"

"Aww, come on, Sis! It's not like I went through your texts or anything-"

"Why? Why do you like changing my alarm tone?"

"Why does everyone gang up on me first thing in the morning?"

Gramps banged his fist on the table and glared at us, now we knew his anger was serious.

"Both of you, stop fighting. You're siblings, try to get along."

It was easier said than done for the both of us, but to Souta's credit, he was easier to get along with than Mom or Gramps, as we both hated being perpetually grounded, never being allowed to go anywhere that wasn't school.

After finishing breakfast, Mom went to work, and Souta and I began to walk to school. His school was right next to mine, so we could afford to do that. On the way, I saw Aya and Yuri, two of my classmates and friends from elementary school.

"Hey, you study for the math test? I'm so screwed…"

I had studied for the test, but our sadistic math teacher made the subject even harder than it already was.

"Yea, but you know how Mr. Tanaka is, his tests are impossible."

Aya pushed her glasses up with her fingers, and made an angry face in an attempt to imitate him,

"Remember students, every problem is important. I could ask you anything, even the challenge questions for all I know…"

"…And it turned out that none of the challenge questions came on the test, he was just messing with us, and he gave me one out of five for a question because I got the answer wrong, but I showed the steps! Ugh! This guy should just be fired already!"

Souta's two friends joined us, and they were discussing about their own problems, and then I parted ways with my brother and his friends when my school came into view. Then we walked up to the third floor where our classroom was and we took our seats. I knew today was really going to suck because math was the first period after homeroom, which was no better, as our homeroom teacher was babbling on and on about high school exams and how important they were and that we had to start studying now.

Then Mr. Tanaka showed up with a pile of test papers, he was kind of old to be a teacher, he was already balding, and he had thick glasses and a hunch.

_A wild Tanaka has appeared…_ I thought to myself.

"All right students, you have an hour, this test will count for thirty percent of your grade, take it seriously."

The class groaned and a couple of people started to complain.

"Silence, there will be no need to talk!"

I looked down at the paper in front of me, this time; he actually did choose the harder questions… I looked around and saw one student grumbling, Aya was staring at the paper dumbstruck.

_Tanaka used test paper! Student became confused; student hurt herself in confusion…_

While going through the short answer section I decided to continue imagining the test as a Pokémon battle. I pictured Mr. Tanaka's battle sprite coming into view, he had a sneer on his face, kind of like a Team Aqua member. I imagined each of his problems as one of the Pokémon in his party. This made the test a bit more bearable.

At that moment I wished I was a Pokémon trainer, Pokémon trainers didn't have to take exams.

I finished the paper on time, but doubted I would get good grades. Our other classes were a blur. Our biology teacher had a tendency to drone, the chemistry teacher was prone to anger and sent two students outside the hall for talking, the physics teacher barely even taught. At lunch, Hojo tried to ask me if I could watch a movie with him, but I couldn't say yes even if I wanted to. The English teacher had such a small voice that we could barely hear her, and our Japanese teacher loved to call on those who were weak in the subject and laugh to herself as they fumbled their kanji. There were only two good things about school: history, and the archery club meetings I attended after school.

Our history teacher actually managed to make the subject interesting, he would give us projects and the like, sometimes we even watched films. That class was the only class where I participated in, and he liked me because I raised my hand a lot. Today he was telling us about the samurai and the battles they fought.

"Sir, I heard somewhere that the samurai used to fight demons, but I highly doubt it's true."

The class began to laugh; I felt my ears turn pink. The teacher smirked at me.

"Did you learn that from your little Bushido Quest games…?"

I froze; of course he knew about those, Mom told him that I loved those games at the parent teacher conference.

"I… well…"

"Well, they did in the folklore, but popular media has a tendency to dramatize history. Anime and games will have you believe that five hundred years ago, humans and demons fought great battles and priestesses and monks roamed the earth… but of course, that's not what really happened. In fact, stories of that nature would probably make a historian cry."

"Have they made you cry, sir?" Aya asked, ever the smart aleck.

"It's just an expression; I have no problem with dramatizing history. If they showed us history as is, stories would be very boring."

Someone else raised his hand.

"But myths are based on truth, right? What if there were demons but they all died out or something?"

"If that was the case, like it is with the dinosaurs, we'd have archaeological evidence to prove it, but we do not. The only proof we have of the existence of such creatures is in the stories, which leads us to conclude that they're myths."

The bell rang, and I knew I had to get changed for archery club practice.

"Remember class, read the entirety of chapter six and answer the questions in your notebooks for tomorrow!"

I went to the girls' locker room and wore my archery outfit, then went to the dojo where all my other club members were. All the while, I recalled my last save file in Bushido Quest, where my party and I were up against a horde of spider demons that were blocking the way to Kyoto.

_The red and white spider demon lashes at me with its threads, I dodge them skilfully, then Murakami comes in and uses his sword to deal one hundred HP against it, I retaliate with an arrow, and shoot it right in between its eyes for sixty HP, the demon disappears, I level up. _

A perfect bull's eye, I get out another arrow and get into position.

_Saito's been hit, he lost about forty HP, luckily I had set Maiko on healing mode, so she used her healing staff on him and he's okay now. I shoot at the other spider demon, a critical hit with one hundred and twenty HP. _

My next arrow was pretty close; I didn't get a bull's eye this time. I got out my third.

_Saito uses his claws on the next spider demon, then I go to the main menu and have Maiko switch to attack mode, she throws a scroll imbued with a fire spell at it, a critical hit, the spider only has one HP left, I finish it off. _

Again, I missed the bull's eye, but I was close. The captain began inspecting our targets; he saw mine and was pretty impressed. Then I disassembled my bow and kept the arrows in their original place. Then the captain called us over and told us there would be a tournament… that would take place in Yokohama, and handed out permission slips to all of us.

I hoped Mom would at least let me go for this tournament; she had kept me locked up in the house for so long that even a trip to the nearby grocery store seemed like an adventure to me. She always said it was for my own good, but in a few days, I would turn fifteen, and I'd be more than old enough to go out on my own.

I went over to Souta's school to pick him up, and we walked home. Aya and Yuri wanted me to go to an ice cream shop with them, but Mom would have known because of the phone GPS, and she would have confiscated my games like she did the last time I tried to disobey her.

I didn't have much homework or tests to study for, so I closed my room door and grabbed a blue box from my cupboard, which contained my 3DS, my DS, my PS Vita, and a bunch of games. I settled down in my bed and rummaged through the box. I had my Pokémon games, my Fire Emblem games, most of the Tales games, the Zelda games, Super Smash Brothers, and of course, the series of games I cherished most. I began to grin with excitement as I put the cartridge into my 3DS and started my adventure from where I left off.

It was pretty pathetic; I couldn't have any adventures outside, so I had to settle for adventures in a video game. The party members and your antagonist would vary with each passing game, but the premise of Bushido Quest never changed. You could play as a male or female character, you chose how you looked, you picked your fighting style, sword, archery, magic, or ninja arts, and you started out as a warrior's kid whose village got destroyed by an evil demon who wanted to take over the world. You had to set out to get revenge and recruit party members to help you in your cause.

I looked over my party members. There was the half cat demon Saito, the priestess Maiko, the cold ninja Umi, the good-natured archer, Kanra, the fox demon twins Kei and Kora, and of course the dashing and brooding samurai, Murakami, who was my boyfriend in game.

I compared them with my actual family and friends. Mom was overbearing, Gramps was a grouch, Souta was annoying, Aya and Yuri were just your average middle school girls, and the closest thing I had to a boyfriend was that Hojo guy from 3-C, who had a huge crush on me, but I never really liked him. None of them had interesting personality quirks or mysterious backstories or used cool weapons… they were just boring ordinary people.

In Bushido Quest, I was Kagome the brave archer in a green and yellow kimono with long flowing hair. I saved kids from being eaten by monsters, I rescued my party members from danger, I helped villagers, and I saw exotic places all the time. My enemies feared me; everyone looked up to me, and my party members cared about me as a true companion.

In reality, I was Kagome the 9th grade student with average looks, average grades, little to no friends, and no combat experience outside of shooting at archery targets. I've never been anywhere outside school and home, never made a difference to anyone's life or accomplished anything noteworthy.

However… I wasn't completely ordinary. I always knew that. Mom said when I was three, I climbed a tree and had a really bad fall, I should have died, but I healed in two days. The doctors called it a miracle. It didn't stop there; every injury I had would heal very quickly. Plus people used to say I had ESP, as many times I had dreams about things that were going to happen, and often made predictions that would come true, though for some reason, this never seemed to work in math class. In elementary school, kids used to think I was weird. They used to call me a witch or a devil and run away whenever I tried to approach them. Plus, there was that weird dream I had yesterday about that priestess Kikyo… there was no such character in any of the Bushido Quest games. So, was I dreaming a story of my own, or was this going to be like something straight out of a shounen anime, where the protagonist starts dreaming of the fight to come?

Okay, now I was getting really pathetic. As much as I wanted to be a protagonist in a shounen anime or a character in a video game, I knew things didn't work that way in real life. I knew there were no such things as supernatural dreams or demons, and that I was just imagining things.

"Kagome! Come downstairs and have your dinner, and put that game away! You have homework to do!"

"Coming!"

I quickly saved my game, I managed to defeat the spider demons and now my party was at an inn. I came downstairs and we started eating and discussing our day. Mom was talking about how her boss was giving her a hard time, Gramps was silent, Souta was talking about something stupid a classmate did. I mentioned Mr. Tanaka and his sadistic test papers.

"Mr. Tanaka's just doing his job, Kagome."

"Mom, you don't get it, he gave Yuri a one out of five for a calculation mistake-"

"Try to understand him. I met him at the last parent teacher conference, and he seemed like a nice man. He's been teaching for twenty years, and he said all his students complained about his methods in the beginning, but they thanked him later because they realized he was only trying to prepare them for high school."

"This is why video games are better than reality."

Mom sighed and gave me a look like she felt sorry for me.

"Kagome, you're going to go to high school soon, it's about time you got out of your little video game world and came down to earth."

"Does that mean I can have her video games, Mom?"

I glared at Souta, one time he messed around with my save file of Blazing Sword and got half my army killed, and another time he erased my save file of Pokémon Heart Gold, filled his party with rattatas and pidgeys, and gave them all obscene nicknames. Luckily, he never touched any of my Bushido Quest games… yet.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting you mess around with my stuff!"

"Souta, you're going to be in middle school next year, so you're not off the hook either. You've been watching way too much One Piece and your report cards have suffered because of it."

"I didn't fail any of my classes-"

"Your grade in science dropped from ninety percent to seventy five percent. You may not have failed, but that's still a huge difference in performance. Remember what I told you?"

"Yea, yea, no One Piece until I get my science grade back up, I got it."

Mom picked up her chopsticks and continued to eat, I wondered if this would be a good time to talk about the archery tournament.

"Mom?"

"What is it?"

"I got a perfect bulls eye in archery, the captain was really impressed, he says that I'm good enough to compete. There's going to be a tournament in Yokohama and-"

"Out of the question."

I froze and felt the anger boil in me as she shot me down without even giving me a chance to explain myself.

"B-but I'm doing well-"

"No. If your school was hosting the tournament, I'd allow you to participate, but sadly, it isn't."

"Geez Mom, it's just Yokohama, it's not like it's the ghetto or something."

"Souta, stay out of it."

"But you wouldn't let me go on the trip to the beach a month ago-"

"It's dangerous out there for people like you!"

I banged my fist on the table and glared at Mom and Gramps, who was silently agreeing with everything Mom said.

"Why?! Why do you never let me do anything? You tell me and Souta to get out of fiction-land and be more grounded in reality, but you won't allow us to go out and experience, you know, reality! What do you want, for me to grow up inside a sheltered protected bubble for the rest of my life?! Do you want me to be thirty years old and still living with you?!"

"I want you to be safe! I'm trying to protect you and your brother from what's out there-"

"There is NOTHING out there, Gramps! Who'd you imagine would want to attack us, and for what?!"

"We give you enough freedom as it is-"

"FREEDOM?! Oh, that's rich! You watch our every move with that little GPS system you installed in our phones! You let us go to school, and that's it, and you call that FREEDOM?!"

"We had your school thoroughly checked, it's safe, we can't say the same about other places-"

"What are you trying to protect me from?! What's out there that you've got to hide-"

"KAGOME!"

Mom's yelling made everyone shut up and stare at her dumbstruck.

"We will not speak of this again, understood?"

We ate our dinner in silence, and then I went upstairs. I had history homework, Japanese homework, and a biology and chemistry worksheet to finish. I went to my desk and started working. I finished in a couple hours, and then I got ready for bed and lay down. I'd have another mundane mechanical day ahead of me, I wouldn't get to go to the tournament, I'd never be able to go out with my friends, I'd remain a recluse with nothing but a few game systems to keep me company, I was sick of it.

I slept, hoping to dream of going on fantastic adventures and saving the world, just as I did in my games.


End file.
